Sheet fastener



y 9, 9 R. w. SHOLLE 2,983,181

SHEET FASTENER Filed Nov. 12,,1957

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ROGER W SHOLLE BY 0 mm ATTORN EYS United States Patent SHEET FASTENER Roger W. Sholle, Lorain, Ohio, assignor to Nelson Stud Welding Division of Gregory Industries, Inc.

Filed Nov. 12, 1957, Ser. No. 695,874

Claims. (CI. 85-36) This invention pertains to fastening devices for build: ing construction and more particularly to a novel and improved building construction of the type wherein sheet metal is affixed to building purlins by stud and swaged fastener connections.

In modern construction techniques, siding and roofing are often attached to buildings by first welding a plural ity of studs to building purlins, then impaling sheet metal on the studs, and thereafter clamping the metal by securing a fastener into connection with the stud.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a cap which can be caused to set and lock upon a stud by a lateral flow of the cap body produced by a longitudinally applied setting force.

Another of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a. swaged fastener for afiixing sheet metal to such studs, quickly and easily, and in a'fashion which assures a firm, positive connection of the sheet.

Another and related object of this invention is to provide a lock cap which is set upon a stud by the provision of a chamfered area on the cap, which is squeezed by a setting tool acting along the longitudinal side of the cap and against a holding resistance force to thereby create a lateral spreading action of the cap body.

Yet another and more detailed object of this invention is to provide a fastener which may be quickly and easily detached for dismantling or repairing the building without damaging either the studs or the connected sheet.

A further and more specialized object of this invention is to provide a cap fastener which can be readily modified for use with sheet material which is coated with asphalt, or other material that is readily susceptible to damage during a connecting operation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a sheet of material impaled over a stud extension and seated against a shoulder on the stud;

Figure 2 illustrates the structure of Figure l with a cap placed over the extension and with a tool aligned to cooperate with the cap;

Figure 3 illustrates a complete fastener securing a sheet to a supporting structure;

Figure 4 is a view illustrating a fastener securing several overlapping sheets to the building structure;

Figure 5 illustrates a modification of the invention; and

Figure 6 illustrates another modification of the invention.

In the drawings the reference character 10 designates a purlin or other part of a building framework or supporting structure. This supporting structure 10 may be in the form of an angle iron, channel member, I-beam, purlin, or any other similar member which is used to support curtain wall sheets on a-building. Normally this supporting structure 10 is constructed of a ferrous material. A stud 11 is end are weldedto' the supporting structure 10. The stud 11 has a shoulder 12 and an end extension porti-on 13 of reduced diameter. The extension portion 13 passes through the sheet 14 which is used to enclose the building on the side-walls or roof. A cap 15 is secured to the extension portion 13. The cap 15 seats against the outside surface 16 of the sheet and holds the sheet 14 against the shoulder 12 on the stud 11. Figure 3 best illustrates the fastener holding a sheet on the building structure.

The illustrated stud 11 is end are welded to the building or supporting structure 10 to provide a rigid permanent connection. This welding operation may be completed by using a welding device such as illustrated in Patent No. 2,413,189, issued to Ted Nelson. When corrugated aluminum sheets are being fastened to a ferrous framework, the shoulder 12 on the body of the stud 11 should be spaced from the supporting structure 10 a distance greater than the depth of the corrugations so that the aluminum will not come in contact with the supporting structure 10. In this instance the stud 11 may be constructed from the ferrous metal and the cap 15 may be constructed from the aluminum. For extremely corrosive atmospheres the stud 11 and the cap may be plated with cadmium or other plating which will retard electrolytic action between the stud and the cap and the sheet. However, in the majority of instances the plating is not necessary because the cap seats tightly against the outer surface of the sheet and prevents moisture or catalytic agents from getting between the aluminum cap and the ferrous metal extension. Since the underside of the aluminum sheet is dry, there is little danger of electrolysis being set up between the underside of the aluminum sheet 14 and the body of the stud 11 at the shoulder 12.

It is understood that although the invention has thus far been described for securing aluminum sheets onto ferrous supporting structures, the fastener may be used for securing ferrous sheets of other materials to building structures and that the stud 11 may be constructed from aluminum for securing aluminum sheets to aluminum supporting structures. The principle of this invention makes possible a tight seal, a strong grip, and ease of producing the holding action, along with ease of removal. The exact use of this basic concept may be widely applied.

-In the illustrated type of stud, the extension portion 13 is provided with a plurality of grooves 18 extendingtherearound and spaced therealong. The free end of the extension 13 is also provided with a sharp corner 19 so that the extension may serve as a punch and pierce a clean hole through the sheet 14 if it is desired that the sheet be impaled over the extension (as illustrated in Figure 1).

Prior attempts to secure a holding device upon the end of a stud for the purpose of anchoring a sheet of material has been directed to such devices as a threaded stud with bolt, and various compression devices wherein tapered swage tools attempt to compress a cap on a stud. The drawing herein illustrates how a very small total force is converted to an intense local spreading action, for the most effective and positive locking action possible.

The cap 15 has a tapered center part 26 and an enlarged flange 21. The flange 21 is at one end of the cap 15 and it seats against the sheet. The outside surface of the cap is generally cylindrical in shape at the end remote from the flange. The center part 20 is preferably formed frusto-conical, tapering from the cylindrical end part to the flange to provide a wall thickness greater at the flange than at a distance from the flange. The cap 15 also has a cylindrical bore 22 which is open at the flange end to receive the extension 13. r

In Figure 2 a tool' 25 is shown which co-operates with the cap 15 for securing the cap to the extension-13. The tool 25 has a bore 26 for receiving the cap' 15 and a recess 27 around. the bore 26 for receiving; the flange 2.1. The tool 25 also has an internal wall portion 28 formedby Fatented May 9, 1961 modifying the merging of the bore 26 and the flange recess 27. This wall portion 28 co-operates with the wall 20 of the cap 15. When the tool 25 is positioned over thecap and forced towards the body of the stud 11 or towards the shoulder 12, the tool forces the cap towards the shoulder to secure the sheet'14 between the cap '15 and the shoulder'12 and also forces a portion of the wall of the cap 15 inwardly into secured engagement with some of the grooves 18 on the extension 13. The tool, the cap, the sheet, and the stud shoulder coact in a novel fashion which provides one of the outstanding advantages of this invention. The tool drives the cap 15 down over the stud extension portion 13 until the cap forces the sheet 14 against the shoulder 12. As can best be seen in Figures 4 and 6, the stud extension is not bottomed in the bore either at this time or when the connection is formed. After the cap has forced the sheet into contact It has been discovered that there is a tendency for the soft asphalt coated on the sheet 114 to crack or to separate from the metal sheet during the impaling operation. The embodiment of Figure 6 overcomes this. The cap 15 includes an annular ring portion 115 under the flange and concentric with the bore of the cap. A washer 116 of neoprene or other suitable material with similar characteristics, surrounds this annular ring portion 115. When the cap 15 is driven onto the stud extension 13, the annular ring portion 115 seats against the coated sheet. The neoprenewasher 116 is compressed between the flange on the cap andthe protected sheet. This neoprene washer with the stud shoulder, the stud cannot move further.

Therefore further force applied to the cap by the tool will cause the cap to be squeezed between the stud shoulder and tool and will therefore be distended. The stud shoulder is a reaction to oppose the action of the tool and this results in the tool wall portion 28 compressing the cap center portion 20 to skage the cap in a lateral direction and thereby into intimate engagement with the grooves 18. At the same time, because such swage expansion requires a counter reaction force, the flange 21 is driven down against the sheet, and the sheet is driven against the shoulder of the stud. Contact of the sheet and cap is formed, which contact is circumferential to the stud and complete whether the sheet is flat or corrugated. Such formation of a connection is dependent upon reaction of the shoulder. It will be seen that any connection must be a good connection. It is impossible to secure the cap to the stud without the sheet being held firmly therebetween. Inspection of such connections is completely eliminated since it is known that if the cap is Secured in place the sheet is properly held. It is also held in a generally fluid tight fashion which will inhibit cor rosion but at the same time in a fashion which permits ready disconnection for dismantling of the building or removing the sheet without damage to either the stud or the sheet;

From this description, as illustrated, the tapered center post 20 is not merely a surface form, but is a swageable mass encompassing the bore 22; hence it is a chamfered area as stated in the objects, or better termed a fillet. The purpose of this mass is to be distended by the setting tool seated thereon encompassing the axis of the bore. A swageable mass is needed in the form of a fillet, and for simplicity of machine production, this fillet is preferably a frustrum of a cone concentric about the bore 22.

In Figure 5 a modification of the invention is illustrated. In this figure the stud 111 has an extension 131 provided with a somewhat conical shape with a smaller diameter at the shoulder of the stud than at the free end of the extension. The cap 15 is used with this stud and the wall portion of the cap is distended inwardly into engagement with a portion of the somewhat conical shaped extension in the same manner as a connectionis formed between the cap 15 and the extension portion 13. When a thin sheet is being secured as illustrated, the wall portion of the cap is pressed inwardly and engages the extension closer to the shoulder than when a thick sheet is being fastened. Thus, with this modification various thicknesses of sheet or various numbers of sheets may be secured with fasteners of the same dimensions.

Figure6 illustrates a modification of the invention for use in fastening .protected'metal sheets wherein at least the outside of the sheet has an asphalt coating. In this embodiment a back-up washer 30 is placed over the extension 13 and against the shoulder 12. The protected sheet114 is then impaled over the extension in the same manner as isused in assembling the preferred embodiment of the invention.

not only seals the fastening," but also conforms to the surface of the coated" sheet and prevents ruination of the protective asphalt coating during assembly of the fastener.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity enabling others to reproduce the invention, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that numerous modifications and changes in the details may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims which are made a part hereof.

r I claim:

1. A symmetrical one-piece fastener cap ofswageable material adapted to be pressure formed into an interlocked fastening connection with. a stud, comprising a body including an endless, circumferential, planar flange base, the body also including a smooth-walled bore opening through said planar flange base and extending axially of'said body normal to said flange base, said bore extending to a closed end within said body, an inclined fillet having an exterior surface beginning intermediate the length of said bore, and extending to a junction with said flange base intermediate the distance from the axis of said bore and the extreme outer edge of the flange base, said fillet being a swageable mass encompassing said bore to receive a compression force from a setting tool seated thereon encompassing the axis of said bore.

2. In the cap defined in claim 1, the fillet being frustoconical with the axis thereof coextensive with the axis of said here.

3. In the cap defined in claim 1, the planar flange base being in the form of an annulus.

4. In the cap defined in claim 1, said flange base having a notch extending around the perimeter thereof opening on the surface surrounding the opening of the bore, and a resilient sealing material held in said notch, whereby the abutment of the cap to the surface will be confined to an area less than the total flange base area and the sealing material will provide a sealing action and thus permit the cap to be used with soft surface finish sheet materials.

5. A symmetrical one-piece fastener cap of swageable material adapted to be pressure formed into an interlocked fastening connection with a stud, comprising, a body including an annulus planar flange base, the body also including a smooth-walled bore opening through said planar flange base and extending axially of said body normal to said flange base, said bore extending to a closed end within a top dome on said body, an inclined fillet having an exterior surface beginning intermediate the length of said here below said dome and extending to a junction with said flange base intermediate the distance from the axis of said bore and the extreme outer edge of the flange base, said fillet being a swageable mass encompassing said bore to receive a compression force from a setting tool seated thereon encompassing the axis of said bore. r

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 348,426 Shellenberger Aug. 31, 1886 (Other references on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Zinow Aug. 10, 1909 Boutelle Sept. 26, 1916 Abronski Oct. 10, 1933 Black May 22, 1934 Peterson May 25, 1937 Bawtenheimer May 13, 1941 Gray Nov. 16, 1943 Keller et a1. Mar. 19, 1946 Stelzer May 25, 1948 Ton-esen Feb. 20, 1951 Abraham Oct. 9, 1951 Friedly Dec. 22, 1953 Koenig Sept. 25, 1956 Buhl Apr. 16, 1957 Rapata July 14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 12, 1927 France Dec. 22, 1931 Germany Oct. 9, 1936 France Aug. 30, 1937 

